Shingle



July 11, 1944. L, OWEN ET AL 2,353,259

SHINGLE Filed April 13, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 EfbP/Z .5. Owen Jmes 1? Owen;

/lllouwn I y 1944- H. L. ow N ETAL 2,353,259

SHINGLE Filed April 15, 1942- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,ZZZ rbPrflI. Owen (fumes 1? Owen;

Patented July 11, 1944 UNITED STATES? PATENT OFFICE SHINGLE Herbert IL Owen-and James Paul Owen, Los. Angeles, Calif.

Applieatien April 1 3, 1942-, serial No. 438,858

4' Claims.

This invention relates to a shingle and more particularly pertains to a shingle for finishing the vaiieysof shingles roofs.

It has hereto been the practic in fabricating the vane s of shingled roofs to initially line or flash the valley with a strip of sheet metal, ordinarily eighteen inches in width and extending from the eave to the ridge of the roof, and consequently a considerable quantity of metal is required in the construction of the valley. It has also been the practice in the formation of the valley for the shingler to apply shingles to the opposite sides of the valley which shingles have been out diagonally across their butt ends so that the ends of the opposed Valley shingles will extend parailei With the longitudinal center of the valley, which operation requires prefor'mation of the valley shingles either by the shingler or otherwise, as by sawing the shingles to the desired shape on the job or at a'ini'll. In any event, the shingler is required to lay two shingles one at a time to provide the pair of op osed shingles on opposite sides of' the valley at the intersection of each course of shingles on the field of the roof with the valley.

An object of the present invention is to proi/ide a ore-formed valley shingle unit adapted to he iised in lieu of the sheet metal valley strip and thereby obviate the use of such strip, and in which the pie-formed iinit'emhodies a air of os osed valley shingles connected together in such fashion that the pair of shingles ma be assembled inthe valley as a unit, thereby obviating the apijlication of the hair of valley shingles one at a time. g

Another object is to provide a valley shin le unit or the above character in which a pair of stiii shingles are flexibly or hingedly connected t'gether so that they may be disposed at various angular relations to each other in fitting the unit th at valley and whereby the unit may be packed fiat and thereafter be flexed at the connection between the adjacent valley shingles of a pair to conform to the cross section of the valley'of the roof.

Another object is to provide the ail-of conne'c'ted shingles of the valley unit with a flexible water shedding backing sheet so formed as to censtitute a flashing element and which in an assembly of valley units in the valley trough will eiieetively seal the intersection of the fields of the roof at the valley.

A further object is to provide a valley construction for shingle roofs which will efiect a great sayin in the cost of finishing such Valleys both as to time and material, and whereby the valleys of shingle roofs may be more speedily finished and without the necessity of employing highly skilled labor.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such other objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in the parts and in the combination, construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the valley unit with portions broken away and showing a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in cross section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. I on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a section similar to that of Fig. 2 showing a modified construction;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the unit as flexed to impart a trough-shaped cross section thereto;

' Fig. 5 is a plan View of a fragmentary portion or the valley of a shingle roof with a portion broken out, showing the invention as applied;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the backing or fiashin Sh't';

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a reinforcing and weather resisting strip, preferably, but not neee'ssarily employed in conjunction with the flashing sheet;

8 is a plan view showing the flashing sheet and the reinforcing strip as associated;

Fig. 9' is a plan view illustrating the manner of pre -forming the shingle in forming one of the pair of valley shingles;

Fig. 10 i a perspective View illustrating the manner of mounting the shingle on the backing sheet;

Fig.- 11 is a perspective view of the unit as formed with the reinforcing stri omitted;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the valley unit showin it as formed to provide a wide gutter;

Fig. 13 (Sheet 1) is a transverse sectional view of the unit showing another modified form thereof. 7

Referring to the drawings more specifically, A indicates generally a flexible flashing sheet which is preferably formed of a water shedding fibrous material such as roofing felt, paper or fabric bill, which may be formed of any other suitable sheet material having requisite flexibility and Water shedding qualities. The flashing sheet A serves as a backing and support for a pair of opposed valley shingles B and C' which are preferably formed of the ordinary wooden shingles commonly employed in the construction of wooden shingle roofs but which shingles may comprise any suitable stiff panels or slabs of wood or thin material. The sheet A is of general rec tangular outline and is diagonally arranged when applied with one of its diagonal center lines extending up and down and the other extending laterally. The lower corner of the sheet is removed, as indicated .by the dotted line a, in Fig. 6; the margin of the cut away portion being preferably in the form of a v-notch l5, the side margins b and c of which diverge outwardly in obtuse angular relation to each other from the up and down diagonal center of the sheet to its contiguous margins. The shingles B and C are of corresponding width, or substantially so, and are cut diagonally across their butt ends as shown in Fig. 9 at an angle relative to the side margins of the shingle as may be required according to the pitch of the roof to which the unit is to be applied. Shinglesv nine inches in width, I or nearly so, are preferably employed. The pair of shingles-thus formed are imposed on the sheet A with their diagonal butt margins 11- and e presented to each other and spaced apart to provide a gap l between the adjacent'ends of the shingles at least when they and the sheet lie flat as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; the gap l6 being varied in its width according to requirements as will be hereinafter pointed out but which gap may be closed to form a butt joint when the unit is trough shaped as shown in Fig. 13. The shingles B and C are securely fastened to the sheet A as by means of an adhesive which is preferably fastened to the sheet A as by means of an adhesive which is preferably water-proof, such as tar, asphaltum. and the like.

Th shingles B and C are arranged on the sheet A with the apex of the meeting shingles leading from the apex of the V -notch I5 01' the inner ends of the margins b and c of the latter and with the butt end of the shingles extending along the up and down center line of the sheet. whereby the lower margins of the shingles Band C will be spaced inwardly from the contiguous margins of the sheet A which extend parallel, or nearly parallel, with the lower longitudinal margins of the shingles, and whereby such longitudinal margins of the shingles will have flexible flashing flaps I! and i8 protruding along their lower margins adapted when the unit is applied to underlie a field shingle D arranged alongside the valley shingle as shown in Fig. 5. The flaps I! and I8 are preferably about four inches wide. The sheet A underlies the major portion of the shingles B and C and with the sheet projecting beyond the juncture of the upper longitudinal margins of the shingles and whereby when the units are applied to a roof in off-set overlapped relation to each other according to the desired exposure to weather, the lower edges of the sheet on a superposed shingle unit will overlie the upper edges of th sheet on the second underlying shingle unit.

When it is desired that the gap l6 between thebutt margins d and e of the shingles be closed or substantially so when the unit is applied, such margins are preferably beveled as shown in Figs. 2 and 13 and are arranged close together. However, such bevel is not necessary and may be dispensed with as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Where the sheet A is formed of a material that is of insufficient strength or resistance to exposure to the elements, a reinforcing strip E is employed which strip may be formed of any suitable material such as asbestos, felt, metal coated felt, or thin sheet metal such as three ounce cold rolled copper. This strip E may be of a width only slightly wider than the gap I6 so as to underlie the contiguous butt edges of th shingles B and C as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 12, and need be of a length only slightly exceeding the length of the exposure to weather. A strip three or four inches wide and six or seven inches long is ordinarily sufficient. As here shown the strip E extends from the margin of the notch IE to a point on the up and down diagonal center line of the sheet A a short distance above its transverse diagonal center line; the strip E being imposed on the sheet A and adhered thereto by a suitable adhesive and being positioned thereon as shown in Fig. 8 so as to underlie the gap I5 when the shingles B and C are applied.

Where the butt ends of the shingles B and C are only slightly spaced apart, as shown in Fig. 1, the strip E may have its outer end formed to terminate substantially in line with the longitudinal edges of the shingles B and C but where the butt ends of the shingles B and C are spaced apart to provide a wide gap I6 as shown in Fig. 12, the strip E, where formed of thin sheet metal, is provided with an extended lip I8 at its outer end of a width approximating the width of the gap [6 and which lip or tongue is adapted to be bent downwardly to underlie the adjacent edge of the sheet A or to overlie the upper portion of the sheet A of an underlying valley unit.

In the formation of a valley, an initial valley unit is laid on and nailed to the roof sheathing 20 at the eave thereof with the apex end of the angularly disposed shingles B and C arranged to align with the first course of field shingles at the eave and with the butt ends of the shingles B and C extending along the length of the valley and the pair of shingles arranged on opposite sides thereof. The sheet A of this initially applied unit will overlie the sheathing 20 as indicated at f in the broken out portion of Fig. 5. A field shingle 2| of the first layer of eave shingles is then nailed in place over each of the flaps I1 and iii of the applied unit. A second valley unit is then applied over th initially laid unit in alignment therewith with the flashing flaps l1 and I8 overlying the first layer of eave shingles 2| as shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the end shingles 22 of the second course of eave shingles are nailed in place overlying the flaps IT and 18 ofthe superimposed unit. Valley units are then successively laid up the valley in overlapped relation and with their apices off-set according to the required exposure to the weather of the courses of field shingles; the units being bent as indicated in Figs. 4 and 13 to conform to the trough-like formation of the valley and being nailed in place on the sheathing 20. After thus laying the valley units contiguous field shingles are laid to overlie the flashing flaps I1 and I8.

By cutting away the portion a of the sheet A and forming the notch l5 therein, the margins b and c of the sheet A will extend inwardly from the butt ends of the field shingles overlying same so that the flashing sheet will not be exposed to the weather at the butt ends of the field shingles thus affording neat appearance.

Manifestly when the valley units are laid to complete the valley, the uppermost units will be trimmed as may be required to fit the ridge of the roof.

On completion of the valley the gutter formed at the junction of the shingles B and C will be lined with metal or other weather resisting material where strips E are employed, or will be formed of the material of which the sheet A is formed. In the latter instance, a sealing compound, such as tar or a cement, may be applied to the gap or joint between the butt ends of the shingles B and C which will serve to prevent puncture of the flashing sheet and insure against deterioration of the latter by exposure to the Weather.

The preformed valley shingle units herein set forth are adapted to be factory fabricated and assembled flat in bundles. of units for delivery to the roofer and in their application require no trimming and no fitting operations other than flexing of the connection between the shingles in conforming the units to a valley and the trimming of the uppermost or top units of a valley at a ridge as before stated.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a valley unit which may be readily manufactured and which may be easily and quickly applied and whereby the costly sheet metal Valley strips now commonly used may be dispensed with.

While we have shown and described specific embodiments of our invention we do not limit ourselves to the exact details of construction set forth, and the invention embraces such changes, modifications and equivalents of the parts and their formation and arrangement as come within the purview of the appended claims. For example, while the invention is especially applicable for use in the construction of wooden shingle roofs where the shingles B and C would be formed of wood, it may be applied to roofs formed of shingles other than wood, such as composition, slabs, and the like, and while the units may be packed flat they may also be packed in their trough-like formation, all without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a preformed valley shingle unit comprising a flashing sheet of flexible fibrous material and a pair of opposed valley shingles imposed on said flashing sheet and adhered thereto, said shingles being spaced apart at their butt ends and said flashing sheet spanning the gap between said butt ends and forming a flexible connection between the pair of shingles whereby the latter may be positioned in various angular relations to each other, together with a reinforcing and weather resistant tongue interposed between said flashing sheet and said shingles and spanning the gap between the butt ends of the latter, said tongue being carried by said flashing sheet in a position to project downwardly from the latter in the completed roof.

2. As an article of manufacture, a preformed valley shingle unit comprising a flashing sheet of flexible fibrous material and a pair of opposed valley shingles imposed on said flashing sheet and adhered thereto, said shingles being spaced apart at their butt ends and said flashing sheet spanning the gap between said butt ends and forming a flexible connection between the pair of shingles whereby the latter may be positioned in various angular relations to each other, together with a reinforcing and weather resistant tongue interposed between said flashing sheet and said shingles and spanning the gap between the butt ends of the latter, said tongue being formed of flexible thin sheet metal, and being positioned to project downwardly from said flashing sheet in the completed roof to overlie the adjacent part of the next lower flashing sheet.

3. As an article of manufacture, a preformed valley shingle unit comprising a flashing sheet of flexible fibrous material and a pair of opposed valley shingles imposed on said flashing sheet and adhered thereto, said shingles being spaced apart at their butt ends and said flashing sheet spanning the gap between said butt ends and forming a flexible connection between the pair of shingles whereby the latter may be positioned in various angular relations to each other, together with a reinforcing and Weather resistant tongue interposed between said flashing sheet and said shingles and spanning the gap between the butt ends of the latter, said tongue being formed of flexible thin sheet metal having a free end portion extending from the end of the gap at the apex end of the valley shingle, in a position to overlie the adjacent part of the next lower flashing sheet in the completed roof.

4. A roof valley construction for inclined valleys comprising a series of imbricated flexible flashing sheets each of a generally rectangular outline each having a lower corner portion cut away, pairs of shingles secured upon said sheets in opposed relation to each other with the midline of the valley between them, said shingles being cut away across their butt ends thereby producing parallel adjacent edges of the shingle layers with the mid-line of the valley between them, and a reinforcing tongue of sheet material carried by each of said generally rectangular sheets, said tongue overlying and projecting downwardly from the cut-away part of the sheet to overlie the upper adjacent portion of the next lower generally rectangular sheet.

HERBERT L. OWEN. JAMES PAUL OWEN. 

